yahoo autodraft advice

[FFSurgeon]

Every fiber within me is protesting participation in my league this year, which has instituted an autodraft because "everyone works." So, i need advice...i don't know my draft position (out of 12) and I won't until draft-time, so it won't do me any good. Does anyone have advice or tips on how to rank one big list of 500 players and have a shot at a decent team? Or should I leave the league while there's still time for them to replace my spot? (The commish is a friend of a friend and all his friends...I barely know anyone in the league, so no big loss)

QB, WR, WR, WR, RB, RB, TE, K, DEF, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN
Stat Categories: Passing Yards (50 yards per point)
Passing Touchdowns (6)
Interceptions (-2)
Rushing Yards (20 yards per point)
Rushing Touchdowns (6)
Reception Yards (20 yards per point)
Reception Touchdowns (6)
Return Touchdowns (6)
2-Point Conversions (2)
Fumbles Lost (-2)
Offensive Fumble Return TD (6)
Field Goals 0-19 Yards (3)
Field Goals 20-29 Yards (3)
Field Goals 30-39 Yards (3)
Field Goals 40-49 Yards (4)
Field Goals 50+ Yards (5)
Point After Attempt Made (1)
Sack (1)
Interception (2)
Fumble Recovery (2)
Touchdown (6)
Safety (2)
Block Kick (2)
Points Allowed 0 points (10)
Points Allowed 1-6 points (7)
Points Allowed 7-13 points (4)
Points Allowed 14-20 points (1)
Points Allowed 21-27 points (0)
Points Allowed 28-34 points (-1)
Points Allowed 35+ points (-4)

[I58858543]

here's what I would do.
put every kicker and def on the exclude list along with all TE's except maybe the top 13 or so and all QBs except maybe the top 24. Then just rank all the RBs and WRs so yahoo will keep picking RBs and WRs

[Gibbs_Wagon]

well there are certainly some things you can do...

bear in mind yahoo will fill all starting roster spots before filling in bench spots.

So, if you don't mind picking a qb w/ your 6th pick... and TE a bit later...

here's what I do to start.

1) rank the top 24 RBs that you think are worth owning. (ensures 2rb's are picked for you, and don't worry, other people will do the reaching on wr's and qb's for you)

2) rank the next top 24->36 wr's that you think are worth owning

3) rank the top 12 qb's

4) rank the top 12 te's

5) now that you have a "positional" ranking system, move a couple of the wr's/qb/te's up to spots where you would be happy to take them w/out reaching. people do strange things, so you don't want to penalize yourself if peyton manning is still available in the 3rd round (likely he won't, but it's just an example). A better example is: I might move my top 5 wr's up to just after my top 15 rb's (this is where ranking by tiers comes in handy)

6) rank the top 12 defs

7) Bench picking is weird with autopick. There is some secret algorithm that will pick players based on how many starting spots you have at a position. But at this point, finish ranking your qbs/rbs/wr's that you find valuable.

8) put in your sleeper/flier picks. Remember that only you and a handful of other owners will remember to put M. Bell (among others) that are "yahoo ranked" in the thousands. It's quite possible to get him in the late rounds w/ auto pick.

9) lastly, rank your top 12 kickers.


It's an imperfect system, but you can field a decent team. good luck!

[stomperrob]

And don't bother trying to rank 500 because Yahoo won't let you - you're only allowed to rank 10 or 12 per position (can't remember which) including bench spots - doesn't matter how many at each position you rank though, just the total number ranked.
Gibbs_Wagon's advice was sound - that's pretty much the way I used to rank when I did autodrafts.
If you're not adverse to having another team, why not try another autodraft first in a public league to get a feel for how they go.
Good luck!

[FFSurgeon]

thanks for the tips guys. i'm going to give it a go. good luck to you all as well.

[dillon2828]

like this?


your Rankings
1. L. Johnson
2. S. Alexander
3. L. Tomlinson
4. T. Barber
5. S. Jackson
6. C. Williams
7. C. Portis
8. E. James
9. R. Brown
10. W. Parker
11. W. Dunn
12. C. Dillon
13. J. Jones
14. D. McAllister
15. T. Jones
16. R. Johnson
17. S. Smith
18. L. Jordan
19. B. Westbrook
20. W. McGahee
21. R. Droughns
22. L. Fitzgerald
23. T. Bell
24. R. Bush
25. C. Johnson
26. D. Foster
27. J. Addai
28. J. Lewis
29. T. Holt
30. A. Boldin
31. M. Harrison
32. R. Moss
33. H. Ward
34. C. Chambers
35. P. Burress
36. J. Galloway
37. P. Manning
38. Sa. Moss
39. R. Wayne
40. A. Johnson
41. D. Mason
42. J. Horn
43. M. Muhammad
44. T. Brady
45. D. Stallworth
46. T. Glenn
47. D. Bennett
48. J. Walker
49. D. Driver
50. Ro. Williams
51. D. Jackson
52. D. Branch
53. K. McCardell
54. L. Coles
55. I. Bruce
56. J. Jurevicius
57. D. Givens
58. A. Toomer
59. E. Moulds
60. C. Palmer
61. M. Bulger
62. J. Shockey
63. E. Manning
64. A. Gates
65. D. Culpepper
66. T. Green
67. B. Roethlisberger
68. J. Delhomme
69. T. Gonzalez
70. M. Hasselbeck
71. D. Bledsoe
72. J. Plummer
73. D. Brees
74. A. Crumpler
75. T. Heap
76. J. Witten
77. C. Cooley
78. R. McMichael
79. H. Miller
80. L. Smith
81. B. Watson
82. Chicago
83. Carolina
84. Pittsburgh
85. Indianapolis
86. Tampa Bay
87. N. Rackers
88. A. Vinatieri
89. M. Vanderjagt
90. J. Elam
91. S. Graham
92. N. Kaeding
93. D. Akers
94. S. Gostkowski
95. J. Feely
96. J. Brown

[stomperrob]

like this?


your Rankings
1. L. Johnson
2. S. Alexander
3. L. Tomlinson
4. T. Barber
5. S. Jackson
6. C. Williams
7. C. Portis
8. E. James
9. R. Brown
10. W. Parker
11. W. Dunn
12. C. Dillon
13. J. Jones
14. D. McAllister
15. T. Jones
16. R. Johnson
17. S. Smith
18. L. Jordan
19. B. Westbrook
20. W. McGahee
21. R. Droughns
22. L. Fitzgerald
23. T. Bell
24. R. Bush
25. C. Johnson
26. D. Foster
27. J. Addai
28. J. Lewis
29. T. Holt
30. A. Boldin
31. M. Harrison
32. R. Moss
33. H. Ward
34. C. Chambers
35. P. Burress
36. J. Galloway
37. P. Manning
38. Sa. Moss
39. R. Wayne
40. A. Johnson
41. D. Mason
42. J. Horn
43. M. Muhammad
44. T. Brady
45. D. Stallworth
46. T. Glenn
47. D. Bennett
48. J. Walker
49. D. Driver
50. Ro. Williams
51. D. Jackson
52. D. Branch
53. K. McCardell
54. L. Coles
55. I. Bruce
56. J. Jurevicius
57. D. Givens
58. A. Toomer
59. E. Moulds
60. C. Palmer
61. M. Bulger
62. J. Shockey
63. E. Manning
64. A. Gates
65. D. Culpepper
66. T. Green
67. B. Roethlisberger
68. J. Delhomme
69. T. Gonzalez
70. M. Hasselbeck
71. D. Bledsoe
72. J. Plummer
73. D. Brees
74. A. Crumpler
75. T. Heap
76. J. Witten
77. C. Cooley
78. R. McMichael
79. H. Miller
80. L. Smith
81. B. Watson
82. Chicago
83. Carolina
84. Pittsburgh
85. Indianapolis
86. Tampa Bay
87. N. Rackers
88. A. Vinatieri
89. M. Vanderjagt
90. J. Elam
91. S. Graham
92. N. Kaeding
93. D. Akers
94. S. Gostkowski
95. J. Feely
96. J. Brown

Yeh, that's not bad - but make sure ya rank more than 96 or Yahoo's goofy rankings will kick in after 96 - throw in more RB's & WR's and you only have 5 Def's (if there's 10 teams in your league, you'd better have at least 10 def's ranked) - couple more QB's wouldn't hurt either.

[shasty mcnasty]

here's what I would do.
put every kicker and def on the exclude list along with all TE's except maybe the top 13 or so and all QBs except maybe the top 24. Then just rank all the RBs and WRs so yahoo will keep picking RBs and WRs

i don't think it will work to exclude Def and K altogether, since Yahoo states that they will pick all your starting spots before filling out your bench. However, what i am doing is moving all Def and Ks out of my rankings and into Yahoo's general player list, where i order them according to my preferences. I'm hoping that in this way, yahoo will only pick one of each, and then will fill up my bench spots with Rb/Wr. I'd probably do the same with TE's (who needs 2?), unless you are trying to target like the cream of the crop.

[mikey]

well there are certainly some things you can do...

bear in mind yahoo will fill all starting roster spots before filling in bench spots.

So, if you don't mind picking a qb w/ your 6th pick... and TE a bit later...

here's what I do to start.

1) rank the top 24 RBs that you think are worth owning. (ensures 2rb's are picked for you, and don't worry, other people will do the reaching on wr's and qb's for you)

2) rank the next top 24->36 wr's that you think are worth owning

3) rank the top 12 qb's

4) rank the top 12 te's

5) now that you have a "positional" ranking system, move a couple of the wr's/qb/te's up to spots where you would be happy to take them w/out reaching. people do strange things, so you don't want to penalize yourself if peyton manning is still available in the 3rd round (likely he won't, but it's just an example). A better example is: I might move my top 5 wr's up to just after my top 15 rb's (this is where ranking by tiers comes in handy)

6) rank the top 12 defs

7) Bench picking is weird with autopick. There is some secret algorithm that will pick players based on how many starting spots you have at a position. But at this point, finish ranking your qbs/rbs/wr's that you find valuable.

8) put in your sleeper/flier picks. Remember that only you and a handful of other owners will remember to put M. Bell (among others) that are "yahoo ranked" in the thousands. It's quite possible to get him in the late rounds w/ auto pick.

9) lastly, rank your top 12 kickers.


It's an imperfect system, but you can field a decent team. good luck!

This is pretty sound advice, and I have used some variation of the same methodology myself in years past with some success.

[swyck]

Good advice in some of these posts. I've had some good luck with autopicks, and kind of enjoy trying to game it.

Instead of listing the 1-24 as the top 24 rbs, I try to go based on the number of teams (say 12) and attempt to order based on how I like to draft.

I like to go RB RB, but I'm willing to go with a WR second if one of the top ones is available AND I feel the RBs are starting to drop in quality.

So my 1st 12 slots are all RB's. I'm guaranteed to get one of them no matter where I pick, and I'd be thrilled to get two.

I want an RB for my second pick, but would be willing to take a top WR depending. So my next 4-6 picks are again RBs, depending on where I see the drop off. Then I'll slot the top 4 stud WRs, and finish out the rest of the top 24 with RBs.

For the next 24 picks I alternate groups of 4-6 WRs and RBs. I keep doing this down the line, but I start to mix in my top QB every once in a while, along with TE's I feel are valuable up high. What I dont want to happen is to take two or even three QBs or TEs with consecutive picks. You also dont want to be drafting Ron Dayne if Manning or Gates are available.

I keep doing this down the line, starting to altenate positions, concentrating on RBs (which run out of quality soon) and WRs, startin to mix more QBs and TEs.

I'm a believer that a good D should be taken in the late middle round rather then late, so I will add top D into the mix eventually.

At the end when I dont really care who I get I'll add a few top K's.

The trick IMO is to load the top of your list with the top talent the start alternating based on ranking. A good draft order based on an understanding on how the autodraft works can give you a real nice lead over other players.